sward

American  

[swawrd] / swɔrd /

noun

1. the grassy surface of land; turf.

2. a stretch of turf; a growth of grass.

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verb (used with object)

1. to cover with sward or turf.

verb (used without object)

1. to become covered with sward.

sward British  

/ swɔːd /

noun

1. turf or grass or a stretch of turf or grass

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verb

1. to cover or become covered with grass

Other Word Forms

• undersward noun

Etymology

Origin of sward

before 900; Middle English (noun); Old English sweard skin, rind; cognate with German Schwarte rind, Old Frisian swarde scalp, Middle Dutch swaerde skin

Example Sentences

And the pictures are ravishing: a Massachusetts lighthouse on a grassy sward under an azure sky; a winding two-lane road through New Zealand’s Southern Alps that disappears into the snow-dusted hulk of Mt.

From Washington Post • Jan. 10, 2018

James Milner and Gareth Barry lead the teams down the stairs and out on to the Anfield sward.

From The Guardian • Apr. 20, 2016

Picture his bemusement when, out of the blue, he is invited to the du Pont estate, and gently deposited by private chopper on the sward.

From The New Yorker • Nov. 10, 2014

I could catalog them — the plush sward of Sheep Meadow, the boat pond, the elegant bridges — but let me suggest the Mall alone as reason enough.

From New York Times • Jul. 11, 2010

There was a clearing in the forest, a wide sward of moonlit grass, and the white rays shone full upon the tree trunks on the opposite side.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

Related Words

• earth
• grass
• ground
• sod
• soil
• terrain
• territory
• track